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Changsha Design and Research Institute of Nonferrous Metallurgy

Qulong Copper Polymetallic Deposits

Project Summary

Project

The CNY 16.4 billion project required Changsha Design and Research Institute of Nonferrous Metallurgy (Changsha) to design and engineer a new mining preparation plant to exploit copper and molybdenum resources at Tibet’s Qulong Copper Polymetallic Deposit (Qulong). To guard against potential power failures at the highest altitude mine in the world, optimize productivity and resource utilization, realize environmental efficiencies, and ensure effective, multidiscipline collaboration and management throughout the plant’s lifecycle, Changsha needed to use flexible and interoperable modeling software.

Solution

Changsha implemented Bentley’s integrated BIM solutions using ProjectWise for multidiscipline collaboration, MicroStation for 3D plant design of workshop schemes, AECOsim Building Designer to design the heating, ventilation, piping, and drainage systems, Bentley Raceway and Cable Management for electrical design, and Bentley Navigator to identify and resolve collisions prior to construction. The flexibility and interoperability of Bentley software enabled Changsha to produce a collaborative 3D design that could be used throughout the operation and maintenance of the plant for asset and risk management, production execution, and training.

Outcome

Using Bentley 3D modeling software, Changsha saved over CNY 20 million in field grading construction costs for the plant’s flotation workshop, and CNY 5 million in pipe installation fees. Bentley’s multidiscipline, collaborative BIM processes reduced design errors by more than 2,000, which decreased the design change rate by 80 percent and saved a predicted two months in construction time. Changsha identified over 1,500 pipeline collisions in Bentley Navigator, reducing pipeline installation time by 20 days. With an intelligent plant model, plant management is more intuitive, improving efficiency and reducing operating costs.

Software

Changsha used MicroStation for 3D design to compare different schemes for the plant workshops and determine ground elevation errors that, using 2D design, would have required field grading of 5 meters deeper. Changsha also used AECOsim Building Designer to model the heating and ventilation system, ensuring energy efficiency, and Bentley Raceway and Cable Management to design the plant’s raceway and cable systems, facilitating optimal power at the world’s highest altitude mine. Bentley Navigator identified collisions improving design accuracy to reduce changes during construction. ProjectWise served as the integrated design platform, accelerating accurate information sharing to minimize design errors.

Bentley software’s flexibility and interoperability allowed Changsha to produce a collaborative 3D plant design using ProjectWise as an integrated platform to facilitate multidiscipline communication, reducing design errors by over 2,000, and significantly cutting project delivery time and overall costs.

Using Bentley’s BIM approach provided Changsha with a 3D integrated model that could be used throughout the lifecycle of the plant for asset and risk management, production simulation, and training exercises, improving plant efficiency and reducing operating costs.